Two very tough matches’ —Pulis

TONY PULIS sized up Stoke City’s challenge in the next two matches by expressing his surprise that West Ham United have found themselves in a relegation battle in the Barclays Premier League this season.

Pulis’ side face a double-header against the Hammers in the Barclays Premier League and the FA Cup quarter finals, but City’s manager knows that they will be up against a resurgent team who are now playing to their true potential.

West Ham boosted their hopes of beating the drop last weekend with an impressive 3-1 victory over Liverpool and that came six days after they had booked their place in the final eight of the FA Cup with a 5-1 demolition of Burnley.

“Those two performances didn’t surprise me in the least bit when you look at the quality in their side,” commented Pulis. “What has surprised me, and indeed a lot of other people, is the position that they’ve found themselves in.

“If you look at their side, they have Green, Upson, Parker and Cole down the middle of it, and they are all England internationals. They’ve recently added Bridge, who is another England player, Keane, and they have taken a chance on Ba which has paid off.”

He added: “There are plenty of other quality players, so we know that these are going to be two very tough matches for us. But then, West Ham will know that they are in for two tough matches too if we play to our full potential.”

Pulis stressed that he had no regrets that City’s attempt to sign Demba Ba had fallen through during the January transfer window.

“We have made massive improvements as a Football Club over the past three years and one area in which those improvements have been made is on the medical side,” he stated. “We have great faith in their judgement and when all the fitness checks were carried out on Demba, it was considered too much of a risk to sign him.

“We were paying a lot of money for the kid and it was too big a risk when we could have lost him in the first training session.

“Fair play to West Ham, they’ve been prepared to take that risk. He’s a great lad and I am sure he’ll be a great success if he stays fit.”